“Truly, Madly, Deeply” by L.J. Shen is a cringy, but captivating romance story about two childhood “friends” who pine after the other throughout the book.
The dynamic of the two characters include Cal, the main character and her best friend’s older brother, Row. The book starts off with the teenage version of the two characters in an intimate and awkward situation. Cal is heading off to college but does not want to while still being a virgin. So, she does what anyone would do. She asks her best friend’s older brother to take her virginity the night before leaving.
Dylan, her best friend, finds them while in the act and flips out on Cal. Flash forward five years later, Cal experiences an unfortunate event that causes her to go back to her hometown of Staindrop, Maine, where she encounters her estranged and pregnant best friend and her brother. When Dylan and Cal see each other for the first time in five years, Cal is shameful and intends to win her ex-best friend’s forgiveness.
Because Cal’s mother is in desperate need of her support, Cal makes the decision of staying in Staindrop for the next eight weeks. Row, grumpy, broody, and a world-famous chef has a restaurant in town, Descartes.
Cal, being out of a job for eight weeks needs to find a job so she can sustain her New York apartment and has a hard time finding one in such a small town. But when the opportunity to work for the man that seems to loathe her is in her hands, she takes it.
Row acts indifferent toward Cal and doesn’t give her the time of day. However, it’s because he’s been in love with her since she was seventeen. But, Cal is severely afraid of men and of falling in love due to a past traumatic incident, well every man except for Row. However, he has steered clear of scaring her off until now.
The development of the male love interest, Row was pleasant to read as in the beginning of the book, he seems standoffish and rude. However, as the story progresses, his backstory is revealed and the reader gets to understand him on a deeper level.
This book is enjoyable at times and so cringy at others. The overall atmosphere of the book was compelling in the sense that it was one that can make you say “ew” out loud, but then want to know what happens next.
It does a good job of taking Cal through her traumatic event and overcoming the hardships she faced with falling in love. The pacing of the book and their love story was entertaining because of how many times they went back and forth until they finally got it right.
However, this book lacked the possibility of being one that will stay with a reader long after they’re finished. It was not memorable or nuanced in the way other books have been in the past.
One thing that has stuck is the cringiest moment in the book when Cal is finally confessing her love to Row after she turns him down and she gets on one knee to propose. Thankfully, Row stops her and beats her to it.
The end of the book was a long time coming with the two characters finding their way back to each other and finally accepting their love.
